An interesting point was made last week about the use of stories to scare children into staying home and preventing them from making deadly mistakes. The same logic could be used for justifying the creation of religions and monarchies. In primitive cultures, the tribe had to work together to prevent their extinction amid highly competitive rivals and harsh environments.
Even if we cannot prove the exact causes or motivations of such constructions it may explain the perpetuation of narratives.
To perpetuate a narrative it must be adaptable to changing environments and peoples. Only adapted versions of stories survive introduction to new cultures.
The Hebrew religion was adapted into Christianity for European cultures and into Islam for non-hebrew middle eastern cultures.
Looking at the narrative texts themselves the Old Testament was adapted to the New Testament, and the Koran. and the book of Mormon.
There also seem to be ifluences from Plato's writing in the New Testament.
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Right, you should look into the concept of memes. Think its Dawkins... think it comes out of his work "The Selfish Gene."
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you are totally right. Ideas perpetuate as they succeed in making sense of people's experience.
Concerning Plato and the New Testament. I had a philosophy prof who swore that western civilization was not as changed by Christianity as most people thought, and that if Jesus hadn't come along, someone else would have run with Plato's ideology.
Richard Dawkins seems so dogmatic, do I have to read him?
ReplyDeleteWhat a shocker reading plato for the first time last quarter.
Why did someone not make me read that before now?
It seems like the people who challenge christianity would bring up Plato? Maybe they do and I miss it. I still like the bible though.
Maybe they do not because the Old Testament and New Testament mirror one another and the Old was written before Plato?
What do you think?